Welcome Guest! If you are already a member of the BMW MOA, please log in to the forum in the upper right hand corner of this page. Check "Remember Me?" if you wish to stay logged in.

We hope you enjoy the excellent technical knowledge, event information and discussions that the BMWMOA forum provides.
Why not take the time to join the club, so you can enjoy posting on
the forum, the club magazine, and all of the discounts and benefits the BMWMOA offers?Want to read the MOA monthly magazine for free? Take a 3-month test ride of the magazine; check here for details.

If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You will need to join the MOA before you can post: click this register link to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

NOTE. Some content will be hidden from you. If you want to view all content, you must register for the forum if you are not a member, or if a member, you must be logged in.

Garmin 665 /GXM40 issue

Two weeks ago I bought a new Garmin 665 to use on my RT. I hard wired the power to my Centech fuse panel and the Garmin unit always works and charges without issue. The problem that I'm having is with the GXM40 antenna. From the start 25% or so of the time I would get "Check XM Antenna" when I pushed the music button after startup. After fiddling with the connection under the seat most, but not all of the time I could turn the unit off and then back on and I would get XM music and weather alerts as normal. I was trying to figure out what would cause such an intermittent problem?
At first I thought that it could be a power related issue. I tried turning off my auxiliary lights and making sure everything was off when I first started the bike. But I still got the random message "check XM antenna" about the same 25% of the time. Sometimes when riding I could turn off the unit and turn it back on and it would work. Finally on my way home from Colorado yesterday, after using XM for 3-4 hours without issue I stopped for lunch. After that I could not get it to work at all. For 400 miles I tried turning the unit off and on and it would always say "check XM antenna". I finally gave up.
I'm thinking that the GXM 40 antenna must be bad? Or wiring it through the Centech fuse panel is the problem? Any ideas?

Get yourself some good contact cleaner like Caig's DeOxit and treat the pin connections in the cradle every couple of months. Yeah, I know it's a new unit, but what you experienced has also been my reality since Garmin went to those spring loaded pins with the Zumo series. Also treat the USB cable connections and audio connection periodically.

P.S. Having to clean new connectors is not unusual. I repair electronic equipment for a living.

i have a 1150rt and have a 665 with XM. Mine works fine so i bet its an issue with the antenna. i know they are expensive but bet this is the issue. one recommendation if its out of warranty, order a new one from Garmin and if it does not fix the issue to return it.